Southern University and A&M College offers an MSN Family Nurse Practitioner Track.
Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN | $22K (in-state) | 2 yrs (full-time) | 41 |
Southern University’s defining advantage is its pipeline role in diversifying the nurse practitioner workforce. The School of Nursing reports producing more African American family nurse practitioners than any other program in the country, and states that roughly three-quarters of Black FNPs practicing in Louisiana are its graduates. The trade-off is access: this is a Baton Rouge campus program that requires a Louisiana RN license, and the university does not publish a distance-delivery format for it.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | MSN, Family Health Nursing specialty, Family Nurse Practitioner role |
| Format | Campus. No online or distance format is published for this program. |
| Clinical Hours | 878 total; 750 designated direct patient care. Catalog states 640. |
| Clinical Placement | Not clearly stated |
| Population | Individuals and families across the lifespan |
| Distinctive Coursework | Clinical research project plus a written comprehensive exam; thesis option available |
| Concentrations | FNP role only. MSN also offers administration and education roles (non-NP). |
| RN License Requirement | Current unencumbered Louisiana RN license with no restrictions |
| RN Experience Gate | Two years full-time direct patient care within the past five years |
| Start Terms | Fall and Spring. Deadlines April 15 and November 1 annually. |
| Interview | Required per catalog; program page says it may be required |
| Tuition | About $22,009 in-state across four full-time semesters (derived estimate) |
| Accreditation | CCNE (MSN); SACSCOC institutional; approved by Louisiana State Board of Nursing |
MSN — Family Health Nursing, Nurse Practitioner Role
The estimated tuition for the Master of Science in Nursing at Southern University and A&M College is approximately $22,009 in-state, derived from the university’s banded graduate fee schedule at roughly $537 per credit across 41 credits.
The program can generally be completed in about two years, or four academic semesters, at full-time enrollment; part-time study is permitted but no part-time timeline is published.
MSN Curriculum
Structure. The 41-credit plan of study runs four semesters, beginning each fall. Credit loads are 11, 9, 9, and 12 — every semester sits at or above the university’s 9-credit graduate full-time threshold, which matters for both billing and workload planning.
Advanced practice core. The three-course science foundation (pathophysiology, pharmacology, health assessment) is front-loaded across the first two semesters, alongside a theory course and a full research methods course. Southern splits health assessment into a didactic course and a separate 1-credit practicum, so students log supervised assessment hours in semester two rather than waiting for the practicum year.
FNP specialty sequence. Primary care content is delivered through a paired two-course sequence — Primary Health Care of Families I and II — at only 2 credits each. That is lighter than the specialty didactic load at many FNP programs, and the weight is instead placed on the two 6-credit practicum courses that follow. Students who prefer heavy classroom preparation before clinical immersion should look closely at this balance.
Scholarly requirements. This is the curriculum’s most unusual feature for an FNP program. Southern requires a graded 3-credit Clinical Research Project (or a thesis, with an oral defense) plus a zero-credit written comprehensive examination administered in the final semester. Both are graduation requirements. Most FNP master’s programs today are coursework-and-clinicals only; Southern retains the structure of a traditional academic master’s, which adds workload but also builds a research portfolio that transfers cleanly into DNP or PhD application.
- NURS 651 Pathophysiology for Advanced Nursing Practice (3 credits)
- NURS 652 Advanced Pharmacology for Advanced Nursing Practice (3 credits)
- NURS 616 Health Assessment & Diagnostic Reasoning (3 credits)
- NURS 606 Practicum for Health Assessment & Diagnostic Reasoning (1 credit, 64 clinical hours)
- NURS 649 / NURS 650 Primary Health Care of Families I and II (2 credits each)
- NURS 608 Family Health Promotion for Advanced Nursing Practice (3 credits, 64 clinical hours)
- NURS 653 Nurse Practitioner Practicum I (6 credits, 375 clinical hours)
- NURS 654 Nurse Practitioner Practicum II (6 credits, 375 clinical hours)
- NURS 696 Clinical Research Project (3 credits)
- NURS 698 Comprehensive Examination (0 credits)
The graduate catalog’s course list shows NURS 654 Nurse Practitioner Practicum II at 0 credits, which would put the degree at 35 credits rather than 41. The September 2025 plan of study lists it at 6 credits, and 6 is what makes the published 41-credit total sum correctly. Treat the catalog entry as a typographical error and confirm with the department.
The catalog also describes the FNP role as 41–44 credits, while the current plan of study is a fixed 41. Ask whether the higher figure reflects a thesis option or leveling coursework.
More curriculum details are available here.
MSN Clinical Requirements
- 878 total clinical hours, confirmed by per-course math: 64 (NURS 606) + 64 (NURS 608) + 375 (NURS 653) + 375 (NURS 654).
- 750 hours are designated direct patient care — the two Nurse Practitioner Practicum courses — which the plan of study identifies as the certification-relevant total.
- The graduate catalog states 640 direct clinical practicum hours for the FNP role. This conflicts with both the 750-hour plan of study note and the per-course math. Get the governing figure in writing before enrolling.
- Hours are heavily back-loaded: 128 hours in year one, 750 in year two.
- Clinical placement model is not clearly stated. The university does not publish whether it assigns preceptors or requires students to secure their own.
- Faculty site visit policy, preceptor credential requirements, and any geographic limits on clinical sites are not clearly stated.
At 750 direct patient care hours, Southern sits well above the 500-hour national certification floor and above the 600–700 range most FNP programs publish. The practical consequence is concentration, not just volume: 375 hours in a single semester works out to roughly 25 hours per week across a 15-week term, on top of a 6-credit course load and, in the final semester, a research project and comprehensive exam. Full-time bedside employment during the practicum year is difficult to sustain on that schedule. The unstated placement model is the larger open question — in a state where preceptor competition is real, whether the school finds your site or you do can matter more than the hour count.
MSN Admissions
Southern’s application is one of the heavier ones in Louisiana, and two requirements screen out candidates before anything else: a Louisiana RN license and two years of prior nursing experience.
- BSN from an accredited institution.
- Cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 for regular admission. Conditional admission is possible below that, with a B or better required in the first 9 graduate credits.
- The conditional-admission GPA floor is listed as 2.80 on the program page and 2.70 in the catalog.
- Current unencumbered Louisiana RN license with no restrictions.
- Two years full-time RN experience within the past five years. For the NP role specifically, that experience must be in direct patient care. This appears in the catalog but is omitted from the program page’s MSN admission list.
- Three letters of recommendation from specified sources: a former undergraduate nursing faculty member, an employer or advanced-level professional, and a personal reference.
- Statement of interest, 500–1,000 words.
- Curriculum vitae or resume with dated employment history.
- A scholarly writing sample in health care or nursing research.
- Completed introductory statistics course at the 200 level or above.
- Interview – the catalog lists this as required; the program page says it may be required.
- GRE waived effective Fall 2024 per the program page. The catalog still lists a GRE requirement, and the Graduate School’s general admission page still references acceptable GRE scores.
- Deadlines run on an annual cycle: April 15 for fall entry, November 1 for spring entry. The application fee is $25, with a $10 late fee.
The scholarly writing sample is worth planning around. Very few FNP programs ask for one, and combined with the required research project and comprehensive exam, it signals a program that expects academic writing throughout. Applicants without a recent paper should budget time to produce something before the deadline rather than after.
Tuition
Southern University does not publish a flat per-credit rate for graduate nursing. Working backward from its published fee schedule, the MSN works out to roughly $537 per credit for Louisiana residents, or an estimated $22,009 in tuition and mandatory fees across the four full-time semesters of the plan of study.
That total is derived by matching each semester’s credit load to the university’s graduate fee schedule, effective Fall 2026: 11 credits at $5,574.50, 9 credits at $5,382.50, 9 credits at $5,382.50, and 12 credits at $5,669.00. Dividing $22,008.50 by 41 credits gives $536.79.
- Graduate tuition is banded, not per-credit. You pay a flat amount for a credit-hour range, so the effective per-credit cost changes with your enrollment level each term.
- Full-time graduate billing starts at 9 credits. The jump is sharp: 8 credits costs $3,121.00, while 9 credits costs $5,382.50 — $2,261.50 more for one additional credit. Two semesters of the FNP plan of study sit exactly at 9 credits, right at the top of that cliff.
- The banded totals already include tuition plus all mandatory general, dedicated, and student-use fees.
- A Follett e-book access fee of $26.50 per credit hour is built into those totals and is not capped at 12 hours. Students may opt out only through the Follett bookstore, which would reduce the estimate.
- New students pay a one-time $698.00 in additional charges: a $98.00 Watermark fee and a $600.00 campus technology access fee.
- A distance learning fee of $30.00 per credit hour applies to any online or web course, capped at $500 per semester. This is not included in the campus totals above.
- Non-resident cost is not clearly stated for graduate students. The fee schedule lists out-of-state amounts of $3,675.00 and $3,223.00 without labeling which applies to graduate enrollment.
- Rates are effective Fall 2026 and the schedule notes they are subject to change without notice.
The all-in figure is competitive for a public university FNP degree, but the banded structure rewards planning. Because the graduate full-time threshold sits at 9 credits, a student who reduces a term to 8 credits saves over $2,200 that semester — a real consideration for anyone weighing part-time study against the published two-year timeline. Budget separately for licensure, certification exam fees, travel to clinical sites, and the campus commute, none of which appear in the tuition schedule.
Why Choose This FNP Program?
Best suited for Louisiana-licensed nurses who can commit to Baton Rouge, want a high-volume clinical experience, and value a program with a documented record of building a more representative nurse practitioner workforce.
Southern’s strongest claim is one no other Louisiana program makes. The School of Nursing states it has graduated more African American family nurse practitioners than any program in the country, citing the Diversity in Higher Education Annual Report, and that nearly 75% of Black FNPs practicing in Louisiana came through it. For a nurse who wants faculty, peers, and mentorship that reflect the communities they intend to serve, that track record is the differentiator — and it is verifiable in a way that most program marketing is not. The Louisiana State Nurses Association named it Graduate Nursing Program of the Year in 2023.
The academic structure reinforces a specific path. Between the 750 direct patient care hours, the required clinical research project, and the written comprehensive examination, this is a program that prepares graduates to keep going — into Southern’s own DNP or PhD, or elsewhere. If your plan stops at FNP certification and you want the shortest route there, the research project and comp exam are additional work that lighter-weight programs do not ask for.
The honest limits are geographic and logistical. Southern requires a Louisiana RN license at the point of application, and it does not list the MSN among its online degree programs, which places this squarely in a different category from the distance-delivered FNP options elsewhere in the state. Clinical placement policy is unpublished, the catalog and program page disagree on clinical hours, GPA floors, and the GRE, and admission runs through a committee review with an interview and a scholarly writing sample. This is a program worth calling before applying — not because the answers are likely to be bad, but because too many of them are not written down.
Accreditation
The Master of Science in Nursing at Southern University and A&M College is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), which also accredits the university’s BSN and DNP programs. Southern University and A&M College is institutionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), and all nursing programs are fully approved by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing. The graduate catalog states that graduates of the family nurse practitioner program meet eligibility requirements to sit for either the AANP or the ANCC family nurse practitioner certification examination — dual eligibility, which is standard for FNP graduates and worth confirming remains current at the time you apply.
The program page reports that FNP certification pass rates exceed the national average, but does not attach a cohort year, cohort size, or the comparison figure used. Ask the School of Nursing for the most recent reported first-time pass rate by year.
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